Senior Thermal Engineer — Stratosphere Flight Systems

Icarus; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Top market salary

Health, dental, vision

Factory in El Segundo

Real ownership

Fast-paced environment

Lunch provided

Job summary

Icarus is redefining aerospace by building solar-powered aircraft for the stratosphere. This role focuses on thermal design from concept through flight, balancing mass, energy, and reliability to enable long-endurance missions.

You will lead battery and thermal management, coordinate across systems, and work hands-on with hardware in a fast-paced, high-impact environment in El Segundo. Onsite only, with equity and top-market compensation.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in thermal analysis or thermal design for flight/high-reliability hardware.
• Thermal design from analysis through test to flying hardware.
• Experience in low-convection environments where radiation dominates.

Responsibilities

• Own thermal design of the aircraft from sizing to validation against data.
• Model with 0-D and 1-D networks; use CFD/FEA when warranted.
• Own battery thermal management, heater sizing, and cold-soak survival.
• Deliver thermal solutions for avionics, powertrain, and payloads within mass targets.
• Quantify temperature effects on energy budget; assess solar, battery, and motor efficiency.
• Define and run thermal testing setups and correlate models to data.
• Collaborate across structures, avionics, power, and manufacturing; present at reviews.

Skills

Thermal analysis

Thermal design

2D/3D modeling

Python

MATLAB

Test & validation

Education

Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering

Aerospace or related engineering

Tools

Thermal Desktop

ANSYS

Simcenter

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Icarus is redefining aerospace by building solar-powered aircraft for the stratosphere. This role focuses on thermal design from concept through flight, balancing mass, energy, and reliability to enable long-endurance missions.

You will lead battery and thermal management, coordinate across systems, and work hands-on with hardware in a fast-paced, high-impact environment in El Segundo. Onsite only, with equity and top-market compensation.